Angelo: "I have about a minute to play. Then we have chores. Then I play."
Mark, looking up at the clouds with a frown: "But it looks like rain."
Angelo, stopping to smile: "But remember. Rain is God's blessings upon us to have all the plants grow!" He gestures, bringing his open hands up from the ground, as plants would rise.
**************************************************************************************
On separate occassions, I saw both Doug and Janet Smith each pushing a wheel barrow. If you know Dr. Doug, the pediatrician, and Janet, 'nuff said!
Lunch at the PEOT. Joke: Maddie is in 3rd grade, studying mammals in Science class. The teacher explains that whales have a very narrow throat. Maddie raises her hand, "Teacher, teacher. I learned in Sunday School that Jonah was swallowed by a whale."
The teacher calmly responds, "Thank you Maddie. I know. But sometimes they exaggerate in Sunday School to make a point."
Maddie, raising her hand again, "But teacher! It says so in the Bible. Jonah was swallowed by a whale!"
The teacher, a little piqued, responds "Yes, Maddie, I know. But it didn't really happen. It is just a story."
Maddie, now pleading, raises her hand, "But teacher. I believe it. And when I get heaven, I am going to ask Jonah."
The teacher, now exasperated, quickly responds, "Well, Maddie. What if Jonah, didn't make it, and isn't in heaven?!!"
Maddie snaps back, "Then YOU can ask him!"
(Thanks Robert Brooks.)
**************************************************************************************
At a "home cell", Bible study, out in the community with Helen, a secondary (high school sophomore)student, and 2 middle school students. Helen and I know each other and are friendly.
Typically, I would share about myself and maybe lead a prayer. But Helen had other plans.
We sat down, and as the community group of adults and children gathered, she told me, "I think you should do the reading and the lesson."
Startled, I said, "What?!"
She repeated her statement, adding, "Here are my notes. You can use them if you want."
And, so I did. Amazing.
(With a group of Secondary students. Helen is on the right.)
As we walked through the bush back to the orphanage, we laughed. I told Helen she reminded me of Pastor Pooshani with how strong and "assertive" she was becoming.
She smiled, "Pooshani has raised me since I was a very little girl," gesturing with her hand to show she was about knee-high when Pastor began her training."Yes, that was a compliment, Helen". I smiled. "Do you know what that means. a compliment?"
She looked at me. I added, "It is a very good thing."
**************************************************************************************
Teaching the various classes was a hoot, simply a great time. Class sizes ranged from the mid-30's to the mid-50's. Students sit on benches with thin tables, all facing the front. Students are respectful, well-behaved, and disciplined. That was consistent across all grades.
- Students stand and greet the teacher in unison as the teacher enters. They sit after the teacher directs.
- Students stay in the same room throughout the day. Teachers move from room-to-room.
- Students, even in the earliest grades, have different teachers for each subject.
- My students were not really curious about America, or American students.
- They loved being taught the finer points of the English language, and were very attentive.
- All of the students were preparing for "examinations", either the school-wide ones or the "state examinations". They are very important for getting into Secondary School, our high school.
- The teachers gave me the lesson scheduled for that day and time, giving me some time to prepare.
- Students have no textbooks. There is no electricity in the classrooms. Students have lined, journal-type books for writing down what is written on the board.
Of course, my highlight was teaching the older kids, the oldest of which was P7. (I love middle school kids and consider myself to be at their emotional/attention level.) I taught the 7th graders math, which included the Algebraic functions of grouping like terms, factoring, and solving Algebraic equations. I taught them using pair-share, working in groups, and meta-cognition.
Of course, some of the best times are when you get off-topic. First, after doing 3 examples in groups, I asked them to rate the work as "hard", "easy", or "so-so". They looked at me quizzically. They enjoyed being taught the concept of "so-cso", and we used it the rest of the class.
They knew it was our team's last day there. As I was leaving, a couple of them said something that sounded like "say johnny". After numerous attempts to understand, one of the girls wrote on the board "safe journey". We shared a good laugh. I looked outside and, seeing the next teacher not coming, ducked back into the room. We then had a delightful time clarifying "circle/cycle" and "drank/drunk", which included me demonstrating riding on a cycle.
I found them also laughing at the sight of a large white man sneezing and having a loud belly laugh!
**************************************************************************************
"Adolescence is not a Crime" - Emmanuel, a P7 student moved up in the middle of the school year, made this sign in his class. I asked him about it as we went on a "home cell" that Friday. (I had told him in class that I liked it.)
"What did you mean to say in making that sign, Emmanuel?" I asked.
He smiled. "Just that it is natural, part of what we go through. It should be accepted."
I miss him greatly and believe in great things for him. He was a blessing to my visit.
*************************************************************************************
Lunch at the PEOT. True story -
"There's a woman having a baby in the clinic," we were told. A couple of people looked out, stayed looking out from our lunchroom. I got up to see.
There, about 30 feet away, on the cement pad outside the medical clinic for the compound and community, was a woman on her hands and knees, facing us. We watched. Mom had walked 5-6 miles to the clinic.
"The baby's coming! The baby's coming!" exclaimed people outside the clinic. Sure enough, Kim Klepp came out from behind the woman on her hands and knees, holding a newborn girl! Wow! Praise God that Kim was there!
Long story short, the last we heard mom and baby were fine. I got to see the mom and baby laying on a cot about 45 minutes later. The mom, having baby #6, heard it was my wife Chris's birthday and decided to name that new baby "Christine".
Why did she come to the clinic after having all of her previous childbirths at home? We don't know. Both mom and Grandma did not speak English.
*************************************************************************************
Saturday Art Event - My wife planned a wonderful Saturday event for the orphanage, and it went great! It started with the kids drawing - a free drawing and a Christmas drawing. Then, we were to have story reading time. She allowed me to add a "relay race" at the end, followed by candy brought by Doug and Janet Smith.
Well, this was an absolute riot! First we setup 4 classrooms for the art. And we just started doing it.
I gave the directions in my room, looked up and quickly realized I had about 30 kids ages 2-5!
"Mock!" "Mock!", was all I heard.
"Mock, I need paper!" "Mock, I need blue!" "Mock, I need yellow! No, other yellow!"
And they just kept coming.
"Mock, PAPER!"
I realized there was no way I was going to get to read the story, as assigned, because they just kept coming - more kids and NO comprehension of doing only 2 drawings! Total chaos!
Suddenly, Mrs. Elizabeth Perry appeared, calmly asking me if she could help. She helped me "manage" the art projects. She then started the reading in the back of the classroom, and most of the kids began to finish. What a great time! And great art work!
And then, the relay race! Setting up relay teams in the schoolyard was one huge task, and lining them up on the starting line. Then, rescued again, Mrs. Perry took two members of each team down to the other. I gave each team's 1st runner a stick, explained what they needed to do, and started them off. We had about 12 teams, from age 3-12 all running at the same time.
Wow! Dropped sticks and runners colliding started right away! Then, they forgot to stop! After the four runners of a team ran, they just started up again.
AGAIN, TOTAL CHAOS! AGAIN, GREAT FUN!
**************************************************************************************
Isaiah and I playing frisbee catch - Isaiah and I were playing frisbee catch with the plastic top of some kitchen product. What fun! Isaiah, about 5 years old, stood about 25 feet away and refused to throw the frisbee.
"Hey, buddy, throw it here! Come on!" I pleaded, throwing my arms wide open.
He responded, "Hey, buddy, throw it here! Come on!", also mimicing my gestures.
We both howled with laughter, this back and forth continuing until I chased him and gave him the "tickles" What fun!
*************************************************************************************
Home cell (Bible study) in a Tukul with 51 community kids - Kids were hanging from the "window" frames, made of long, thin logs. They were all over.An S3 (3rd year of secondary school), Alex, captivated this group with the lesson, first reviewing in a discussion format what he had done the previous week. Emmanuel, the P7 student-in-training, rounded up the kids and then swooped in from outside onto one of the window frames. (Below is one of tukuls at a home cell.)
************************************************************************************
Tutoring - Rebecca, also from Crossway Church in Germantown and on a long-term mission service, is truly a blessing to the children, and is the hands and feet of God in our world. In addition to nursing 2 year old Elizabeth back to life with feedings at midnight and 4:00 a.m., she runs a tutoring program for kids in P3 (or so) - P7 who need it. Early the first week, she got me involved. What great joy! From 7:15 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, she and I worked with about 12 kids each in a dimly lit kitchen area. I was able to connect with kids on a deeper, whole new level. It was a raucous time frequently. Pastor Pooshani, supervising the seconday students in the adjoining lunchroom, yelled at me to quiet down! See, I told you about her.
***********************************************************************************
Kwadja - At a home cell one day, adults kids are talking and laughing as they gather, and I see the kids I am with from the orphanage also snickering. I looked at the Secondary student.
"What?" I asked.
He replied, smiling, "They are saying there is a 'kwadja' here. That means 'white man'!"
Chris shopping with members of the team and some girls from the orphanage in Yei. The Secondary girls took care of us safety-wise, and making sure we didn't overpay.
"What?" I asked.
He replied, smiling, "They are saying there is a 'kwadja' here. That means 'white man'!"
No comments:
Post a Comment